As a traditional Jew, I'm deeply concerned over the plight of the Roman Catholic Church, which I consider to be the largest and most influential repository of conservative Judeo-Christian values in America today. I believe that those of us who care about the furtherance of a moral society have a stake in the future of the church as a moral force. The American church is under siege today, not only from the usual external forces but also from the weight of its own internal contradictions. The scandal of corrupt homosexual priests violating the innocence of minors in their care is, to put it mildly, a contradiction in Christian and Catholic practice and faith. When did this corruption inject itself into the system and why was the situation allowed to deteriorate to such a degree?

Much has been written regarding Communist methods of infiltration. The standard method was to "bore from within" which involved Communists disguising themselves as loyalists to an organization they sought to undermine. Once gaining entry, they would gradually and subtly change the values and principles of the targeted organization. The process of "change" can take a generation. Communists have exhibited unlimited patience and supreme confidence in the ultimate attainment of their goals. Examples in America include substantial inroads by Communists into organized labor, academia, the legal profession, race relations, cultural institutions, and the government itself.

When planning to infiltrate, the Communists probe for an institutional weakness to exploit and, in the case of the Catholic Church, perhaps they perceived the weakness to reside in the all-male celibate priesthood. Did Communists send their followers, particularly homosexuals, sexual deviants, and enablers, into seminaries to become priests in order to foster a homosexual culture within the church? Homosexuals, practicing their predilections in an overwhelmingly conservative Catholic community, while given protection by well placed minded superiors, could certainly contribute to the undermining of faith in Catholicism and could unquestionably shake the credibility and moral standing of the church itself down to its very foundations. Undermining Catholic authority has been a clear and often stated goal of the Communist left. Speculation regarding how the Communists attempted to implement their program is reasonable and necessary in order to better understand the present situation.

Two former Communists, Bella Dodd and Manning Johnson, spoke on Communist infiltration of the Catholic Church. Dodd, an important Communist party lawyer, teacher and activist, converted to Catholicism in April 1952 under the tutelage of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. Stating that the Communist infiltration was so extensive that in the future "you will not recognize the Catholic Church," Dodd also asserted that:

"In the 1930's, we put eleven hundred men into the priesthood in order to destroy the Church from within."

"Right now they are in the highest places, and they are working to bring about change in order that the Catholic Church will no longer be effective against Communism."

Manning Johnson, a former Communist Party official and author of "Color, Communism and Common Sense" testified in 1953 to the House un-American Activities Committee regarding the infiltration of the Catholic Church:

"Once the tactic of infiltration of religious organizations was set by the Kremlin ... the Communists discovered that the destruction of religion could proceed much faster through infiltration of the (Catholic) Church by Communists operating within the Church itself. The Communist leadership in the United States realized that the infiltration tactic in this country would have to adapt itself to American conditions (Europe also had its cells) and the religious make-up peculiar to this country. In the earliest stages it was determined that with only small forces available to them, it would be necessary to concentrate Communist agents in the seminaries. The practical conclusion drawn by the Red leaders was that these institutions would make it possible for a small Communist minority to influence the ideology of future clergymen in the paths conducive to Communist purposes This policy of infiltrating seminaries was successful beyond even our communist expectations."

As a radio talk show host and avid listener to talk radio in Boston, I've listened intently to comments by Catholics as the crisis has unfolded. Much has been said regarding the left dominance of the seminaries and a prevalence of the ideas of "liberation theology" which is a biblically contradictory Trojan horse within the Catholic gates. Establishment organs, such as the Boston Globe, continue to wring their hands over the homosexual activities of priests while supporting a homosexual agenda everywhere else. Hopefully, the Catholic flock will wake up and sweep the corruption out of their church in the same way that their founder, Jesus of Nazareth, swept the moneychangers out of the Temple.

Thomas Merton, whose writings I detest, was a Communist prior to his conversion to Catholicism. Now I am wondering if he was really part of the plot described here. It would not surprise me at all. For some reason I could never fathom, he is held in great esteem by the post Vatican II Church. And he was a great buddy of.... none other than our infamous Milwaukee archbishop Weakland.

Thanks narses. I like the stuff you post because it almost always leads me on to further research. Before FR, I had never heard of Gramsci or Windswept House, and I knew next to nothing about Cardinal Bernardin, Cardinal Mahony or Cardinal Weakland. I am so grateful that so many posters post such diverse information. I've certainly gotten an education!

"Quite clearly, the Church is not the colossal pillar of morality it was back in the 1950's. This is because the self-described change-agents have been literally gnawing away like termites at the innards of the Church for decades. These so-called progressives smell victory over their old nemesis, yet, after assiduously boring from within and battering from without these many years, the Church refuses to devolve into yet another shell-like clone of progressivism as has been the case with American education, entertainment, the Judiciary and elsewhere. The change-agents are pre-maturely blowing taps over the Church while flabbergasted Catholic parishioners, temporarily set off balance by the astonishing revelations of corruption and corrosion of faith amongst the Church's princes, are demanding that the Church return to the ways of the holy mother faith. While destructive damage has already been done to the lives and faith of many, damage that in many cases is not redeemable, there are hopeful signs that goodness is returning."

Thanks Narses,I read Bella Dodd's memoirs long ago and also read elsewhere that she had testified to the House unAmerican Activities committee. I knew it was true and keep telling Freepers that some of this scandal is not so surprising since the Church had been infiltrated,since I can't link and have some other difficulties I am so happy and grateful to you for finding it and posting it, I am going to try to ping some people that have questioned me about my source. I think I must have given the book to Visiting Nurse accidentally,last time I moved. Thanks again.

Once I found a rather detailed story about Bella Dodd (after you told me about her I did some research) and it was quite interesting. There was some stuff about Pope John XXIII in the article as well. It was rather lengthy and it was published in one of the SSPX magazines, so I decided not to post it here lest I get flamed for being a SSPXer, which I'm not.

Oh good, a fellow dot connector. I believe you are right about Merton,I always felt creepy,crawly after reading his stuff.Didn't know about the Weakland connection. Do know that Weakland was ever so close to Antonio Bugnini,who was the creator of the New Order mass.

I have pinged the rest of you because the article gives some good and pertinent info about our present problem.

I'm pretty sure the friendship dates back to when Weakland was the Benedictine Abbott and Merton I believe was the Trappist Abbott, though I'm not certain of the latter.
I think Weakland found his body...they were at some conference in Asia when Merton died. (It's been a long time since I read Seven Story Mountain, and other Merton related items)

I think we've chatted before about communists infiltrating the church. I'm wary of pinning the problem on any particular group of people.

Undoubtedly there are many in the church with strange idealogies. I wouldn't doubt but what the Vatican and Europe would have been more targeted than America, if it is true that a significant number of communists infiltrated the church.

I'm not sure how all the various factors and purveyors of change took root in America. Looking for a simplistic, one-size-fits-all answer doesn't work for me.

I can't find statistics, but most of the sex abuser priests were ~probably~ not converts. Most communists would have been raised outside the catholic faith.

There are some sinister characters in high places whom I suspect of skulduggery in the church, but their motives and methods vary. Bishop Hnilica comes to mind and that Marcinkus character.

Most of the problems with priests and/or bishops we can narrow down to willful disobedience to proper directives, homosexuals who cannot control their urges, heterosexuals who cannot control their urges, financial malfeasance, and alcoholism.

The least of my worries now are communists in the church.

The author subscribes to the communist theory, as do some others. I personally think it is too simplistic to blame it on the communists. Communism, as we have known it, is on the wane. Undoubtedly some new form of evil will arise and that's what we need to be on the lookout for.

I would recommend reading AA-1025: The Memoirs of an Anti-Apostle , credited to a French priest who was a Communist infiltrator. It explains how the Comintern planted countless agents into seminaries with the long-term goal of subverting the Catholic Church, a goal which saw its fruition in the 1960's.

Also of note is the Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita , which outlines a similar Masonic plot to subvert the Church.

So confused Catholics like myself are left to pick which conspiracy theory best explains the current state of the Church. Maybe even the possibility that the Holy Spirit is working through all this.

Thanks for the bumps (I no longer have access to my own ping list till my laptop gets repaired).

Good article, narses. I do not believe the "communist threat" has gone away, only morphed into less threatening forms, like the environmentalist, globalist, and pop con groups, not to mention the Clintons and Democrats in general.

I went to Haiti twice on medical missionary trips before I realized the brothers I was working with there were full blown liberation theology types. President Aristide, reinstalled by Clinton, was a defrocked Catholic priest, liberation theology guru, and had all the voodoo symbols sewn into the inside of his vestments so they were reversible for any occasion.

Don't for one minute think that I ascribe the problems in the Church to mere communist infiltration. It,(infiltration by communists)as all truth,is just one small piece of the reality.Since you are constantly asking what went wrong and how did it happen,I thought the article would interest you.I look at the situation like a giant jig saw puzzle and thought you might want a piece that has a place on the board.

I couldn't remember if it was you or not. My intention was not hostile. I don't have the answers. Maybe there have always been serious problems of one sort or another in the church and we are only finding out about them today because of modern communication methods along with a free press.

Maybe I'm being naive, but from all the reading I have done, people in the past did a little better controlling their sex drives. The older I get, the more I understand just how difficult it is for some to control.

And thank you for the ping. The author says he is a traditional Jew. I want to believe him when he notes, correctly, that the catholic church is one of the last bastions, if not THE last, for traditional morality.

When he went off on the communist angle, it is recycled material that is not original. I have a book by a traditionalist by the name of Dr. Wardner? (published 7 years or so ago) who says exactly the same thing. Neither do I suspect it was original with him; he probably borrowed the material from some conspiracists somewhere. Well, that was before all the sex scandals came out.

THE END DAYS

The Confessions of aCommunist AgentOn The Attempt to Destroy the Roman Catholic Church from Within

I. Introduction.

This is the story of a Communist agent who infiltrated into the Catholic Church in 1938, went to the Seminary, became a Priest who wielded enormous power behind the scene, participated in the Second Vatican Council, and without the intervention of Pope Paul VI himself he would have destroyed its works. He succeeded, however, in fostering the adoption of ambiguous Council documents which laid the ground work for future experiments by unsuspecting Prelates and Priests. These experiments based on the "Spirit of the Council" are destroying the 2,000-year Traditions of the Church, leading the Catholic faithful on the road to the Great Apostasy, and preparing the Church for the election of the Anti-Pope and for the reception of the coming Anti-Christ. He stated: "'The Spirit of the Council' has become for me a master-trump." The reader should observe that many harmful changes that the agent proposed have been implemented, some in direct disobedience to the the Pope, at the local dioceses throughout the world.

This agent had no name, only a code number AA-1025 given by the Russian Secret Police, meaning the Anti-Apostle number 1025. There had been 1024 agents like him before him. By now there must have been at least several thousands of them in the Catholic Church. Some must have risen to the rank of Archbishop and Cardinal, many of whom could have been heads of Departments in the Curia (Papal government) and religious Congregations. No wonder the 2000-year Traditions of the Church are being slowly demolished and replaced by heresies like Modernism, Arianism, Pelagian, Protestantism, Atheism, Liberation Theology. Nevertheless, Our Lord stated: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18).

Further, Our Lord promised: "Behold, I am with you all days, even unto the consummation of the world." (Matthew 28:20). This should be understood literally, i.e. Our Lord Jesus Christ is living really and truly among the Catholic faithfull in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity every day on the Altar in the Mass and in all Tabernacles until the end of the world, even during the persecution of the Church by the Anti-Christ. One can cite many Eucharistic miracles throughout centuries to prove this. One of the most famous miracles if that of Lanciano, Italy in 8th century. There, the Host turned into flesh and wine blood. The Eucharistic flesh of Lanciano was examined by Dr. Linoli and Dr. Bertelli in Siena, Italy in 1971. They concluded that the flesh was striated muscular tissue of the myocardium (heart wall) of human origin, and the blood was of type AB. (cf. Joan Carroll Cruz, Eucharistic Miracles, Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books, 1987). The latest miracle was wrought through Julia Kim, a Korean housewife and a stigmatist. On October 31, 1995, Julia visited the Vatican and attended a Mass said by Pope John Paul II. At Communion, she received the Consecrated Host which immediately turned into live flesh and blood on her tongue. This was winessed by the Pope. Its was also witnessed by Msgr. Paik who testified that as the Sacred Host was turning into Flesh and Blood, it also became larger and formed the shape of a heart. This was the 12th Eucharistic miracle that Julia experienced. The 11th was in Naju, South Korea, on September 22, 1995 when the Sacred Host also turned into live Flesh and Blood on her tongue during a Mass celebrated by Bishop Roman Danylak from Toronto, Canada. (For color photos and video of these miracles, write or call Mary's Touch By Mail, P.O. Box 1668, Gresham, OR 97030, Phone: (503) 669-8443, Fax: (503) 669-7023.)

As Our Lord said: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." (Luke 21:33). Thus, the Church will never be destroyed as has been hoped by its enemies but always survive in her faithful remnant.

The Agent died in the hospital after a car accident. The nurse (Marie Carre) who attended him found the memoirs in his brief case. After she read it, she decided to publish the memoirs for the world to know why the Catholic Church has been undergoing destructive changes to the lament of its faithful. The English translation is published under the title AA 1025, The Memoirs of an Anti-Apostle by Éditions Saint-Raphael, 31, rue King Ouest, Suite 212, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada, 1988.

Marie Carre gave him the name Michael. He stated in the memoirs that he was forced by some irresistible urge to write. He intended to destroy the memoirs so nobody could read it. But our Lord has stated that nothing can remain hidden. "For nothing is covered that shall not be revealed: nor hid, that shall not be known." (Matthew 10: 26). In this case, for the glory of God and for the consolation of the faithful, God wanted the memoirs to be revealed, and nobody could prevent it, including its author. This is another example that it is useless to fight against God Who declared: "See ye that I alone am, there is no other God besides me: I will kill and I will make to live: I will strike, and I will heal, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand." (Deuteronomy 32:39). It only hurts the persecutor as Our Lord told Saul (who later became St. Paul): "Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me? It is hard for thee to kick against the goad." (Acts 26:14).

Michael met a French girl whom he named "Raven Hair." They loved each other. He tried to persuade her to support his cause in destroying the Catholic Church. As a devout Catholic, she steadfastly refused to join him. Despite all sophisticated arguments he had used successfully to mislead even the Clergy in the Church, he failed miserably before a seemingly ignorant girl. Her letter to him is a little masterpiece of apologetic theology. Despite her love for him, she was opposing his atheism, defending God and the Church. Yet, she said she would sacrifice her life to save him. She entered the Carmelite Convent to pray to God in his name. Michael writes: "She was there for my sake, she would have her hair cut for my sake, she would pray for me all her life, she would be behind gratings for my sake, never anymore would she have the least lover's joy . . for my sake." If he was saved, it would be due to a great grace gained from her sacrifice and atonement for his sins.

Finally, an example of ambiguity in the Documents of the Second Vatican Council can be seen from the following excerpts from The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium, December 4, 1963, printed in A. Flannery, editor, Vatican Council II, the Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, 1988 Revised Edition, Costello Publishing Company.) They contain a lot of "yes, but"s:

21.... For the liturgy is made up of unchangeable elements divinely instituted, and of elements subject to change. These latter not only may be changed but ought to be changed with the passage of time, if they have suffered from the intrusion of anything out of harmony with the inner nature of the liturgy or have become less suitable.

23. In order that sound tradition be retained, and yet the way remain open to legitimate progress, a careful investigation -- theological, historical, and pastoral -- should always be made into each part of the liturgy which is to be revised.

36. (1) The use of the Latin language, with due respect to particular law, is to be preserved in the Latin rites. (2) But since the use of the vernacular, whether in the Mass, the administration of the sacraments, or in other parts of the liturgy, may frequently be of great advantage to the people, a wider usemay be made of it, especially in readings, directives and in some prayers and chants.

37. Even in the liturgy the Church does not wish to impose a rigid uniformity in matters which do not involve the faith or the good of the whole community. Rather does she respect and foster the qualities and talents of the various races and nations....She sometimes even admits such things into the liturgy itself, provided they harmonize with its true and authentic spirit. (Comment: the good of the whole community becomes an important criterion equal to faith in determining whether the liturgy should be adapted (changed) to local customs! What if something is considered "good for community" but is against the tradition of the Church?)

II. Confession of the Communist Secret Agent

Michael was born in 1917 probably from Russian parents fleeing the Revolution. A Polish doctor and his wife found him wandering along the road at the age of three. The couple were devout Catholics but had no child of their own. They adopted him and loved him as their own. In his confession Michael relates that the Polish couple were very good to him, very generous, and full of affection. When he reached fourteen, his happy life changed. He overheard his parents mentioning that he was not their son. They were worried about obtaining a passport for him to go with them to Rome and Paris. He had been brought up to believe that they were his real mother and father. The revelation of his real status in the family shocked him and caused instant hatred for his parents. He decided to run away from home and met a friend who introduced him to his uncle who was a high-ranking official in the Russian Secret Police.

Michael had completed 6 years of study and by now was 20 years old. He was called to the office of The Uncle who told him: "I am now going to send you to practice a militant and international atheism. You will have to fight all religions, but principally the Catholic, which is better organized. To do so, you will enter a seminary and become a Roman Catholic priest.... to be able to enter a seminary, you will have to return to Poland, reconcile yourself with your adoptive family and present yourself to the bishop."

The Uncle added : "A secret agent has no blood in his veins, no heart, loves no one, not even himself. He is the thing of the Party, which will devour him alive and without warning. Keep this well in mind that, wherever you will be, we will watch you and get rid of you at your first imprudence. It is to be well understood that if you are in danger, even without it being your fault, you must not rely upon us. You will be disavowed... Hatred, except the hatred of God, at Lenin's example, does not enter into our services. I need that you be accepted by a true bishop of your native country, Poland. But, we do not intend to have you pursue your religious studies in that country. No, you will be sent to a country across the Atlantic, but this is confidential and you will simulate surprise when you receive that order. Yes, we are led to fear a European war with that fool who rules Germany. Therefore, it seems wiser to have you study somewhere else, Canada, for example. We have another motive also. It is that European Seminaries are much more strict than those of America."

The Uncle gave further instructions to Michael: "The ten persons who will be directly under your orders will never know you. To reach you, they will have to pass through me. Thus you will never be denounced. We already have in our service numerous priests in all countries where Catholicism is implanted, but you will never know one another. One is a bishop. Maybe you will enter into contact with him, it will depend upon the rank that you reach. We have spies everywhere and particularly old ones who follow the press of the whole world. A compendium will be sent to you regularly. We will easily know when your own ideas have made their way into peoples' minds. See, an idea is good when some idiot writer presents it as one of his own. Nobody is more conceited than a writer. We rely much on such writers and we do not have to train them. They work for us without knowing it or rather without wanting to."

Michael proposed to the Uncle: "As soon as. I entered the seminary, I was supposed to try to discover how to destroy all that was taught to me. But to do so, I should have to study attentively and intelligently, that is without passion, the History of the Church. I would particularly never lose sight of the fact that persecutions only make martyrs of whom Catholics have had reason to say that they are seeds of Christianity. Therefore, no martyrs. I must never forget that all religions are based on fear, the ancestral fear, all religions are born from this fear. Therefore. if you suppress fear, you suppress religions....You must drive it to the head of men, and particularly in the head of Churchmen to search for, at any price, a universal religion into which all churches would be melted together. So that this idea could take form and life, we must inculcate in pious people, especially Roman Catholics, a feeling of guilt concerning the unique truth in which they pretend to live.... I was Catholic, and very Catholic, I mean, very pious and zealous until my fourteenth year, and I believe it to be rather easy to show Catholics that there are other holy persons among the Protestants, the Moslems and the Jews, etc... So that all men could enter it (this Universal Church), it could retain a vague idea of a God more or less Creator, more or less Good, according to times. Moreover this God will be useful only in periods of calamity. Then the ancestral fear will fill these temples, but in other times they will be rather empty."

The Uncle thought it over a good while, then he said to Michael: " I fear that the Catholic clergy will quickly notice the danger and be hostile to your project."

Michael said: "This is what has happened until now. My idea was launched by Non-Catholics and the Catholic Church has always closed its door to such a program. It is precisely why I want to study the way to make it change its mind. I know that this will not be easy, that we will have to work hard at it, during twenty or even fifty years but that we should succeed in the end."

The Uncle asked: " By what means ?"

Michael replied: "By numerous and subtle means. I look at the Catholic Church as if it were a sphere. To destroy it, you must attack it in numerous small points until it loses all resemblance to what it was before. We will have to be very patient. I have many ideas that might seem at first sight to be petty and childish, but I maintain that the entirety of those petty childishnesses will become an invisible weapon of great efficacity."

Eight days later, Michael met the Uncle's chief whom he described as a monster, a brute with a combination of brutality, coarseness, ruse, sadism, and vulgarity. The chief told Michael: "From now on, you are on the list of our active secret agents. You will give orders every week. I rely on your zeal. I readily admit that it will take a long time to destroy all religions from within, nevertheless, it is necessary that the orders which you will give find an echo, notably among writers, journalists a even theologians. It is to be understood that we have a team who watches the religious writings of the whole world and gives its advice on the utility of directives given by such or such an agent. Therefore, do your best to please. I have good hopes, because it seems to me that you have already understood it all by yourself. "

The following are Michael's own words on various issues:

On The Mass

"The professor also taught me a reasonable way to say mass, since in six years I would be obliged to say it. While waiting for a deep modification of the whole ceremony, he never pronounced the words of the Consecration. But so as not to be suspected, he pronounced words almost similar, at least according to the ending of the words. He advised me to do the same. All that made this ceremony look like a sacrifice should, little by little, be suppressed. The whole ceremony should represent only a common meal, as among Protestants. He even assured me that it should never have been otherwise. He also worked at the elaboration of a new Ordinary the Mass and advised me to do the same also, because it appeared to him to be altogether desirable to present to people a large number of diversified masses."

"It would do some good that a prophecy be sent throughout the world that would be the following : 'Some day, you will see married priests and mass said in vernacular tongues.' I remember with joy that I was the first one to say these things in 1938. That same year, I urged women to ask for the priesthood. And I advocated a mass, not parochial, but a family mass that would be said at home, by the father and mother, before each meal. "

On Holy Scripture

"In Rome, I had very interesting conversations with a professor who would be mine, when I would have received the priesthood. He was a member of our network. He was very optimistic. He had specialized in Holy Scripture and was working at a new translation of the Bible in English. The most astounding was that he had chosen a Lutheran pastor as his only collaborator. The said pastor, besides, was no more in accord with his own church which seemed old-fashioned to him."

"This collaboration, of course, remained secret. The aim of these two men was to rid humanity of all the systems which it had given itself through the Bible, and especially the New Testament had given itself through the Bible, and especially the New Testament. Thus, the virginity of Mary, the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and His Resurrection, according to them were to be put in parenthesis and finally were to end up in a simple suppression. The dignity of modern man, in their eyes, was worth such a price."

"The modernization of God's Word often allowed to diminish the Church's obstinacy. And that was done in a very natural way. These new translations, besides, facilitated the Biblical dialogues upon which we laid great hopes.... One of my preferred dialogues concerned the Pope, because this personage is really an obstacle to me. When I say 'this personage', I mean also the texts upon which his title is based. Those texts are also as embarrassing for me as they are for the Separated Christians (as they say). I am very grateful to the one who thought that the word 'prevail' has become incomprehensible to the modern man and has replaced it by 'be able'. Instead of 'the gates of Hell will never prevail against it (the Church)', he has written : 'The gates of Hell will never be able to do anything against it.' This makes my meetings Biblical dialogues much easier, at least in French speaking countries. Each one notices very quickly that this prophecy, which pretends that hell can do nothing against the Church, is absolutely false, and every one breathes at ease, because thus withers away this secular belief in a divine protection which, definitely, would always favor the efforts of Catholics (to be understood: never those of Heretics!)."

On the Pope

"About the time I was playing with confession, I was particularly sensitive to one point of doctrine, I mean to say 'the holy virtue of obedience' (as they say.) This obedience especially concerns the Pope. I was turning this problem over and at all its angles, without being able to understand .... I was therefore obliged to ask our services to see to it that the confidence shown to the Pope by Catholics be ridiculed discreetly on every possible occasion. I did not ignore that I was asking them something very difficult. But, all in all, it seemed primordial to me to incite Catholics to criticize the Pope."

"Someone was charged to watch attentively all the Vatican writings, in order to detect even very small details capable of displeasing one category of individuals. The quality of those who criticize the Pope does not matter, the only important thing is that he be criticized. The ideal thing, of course, would be that he displeased everybody, that is, reactionaries as well as modernists."

On the Protestantization of the Church

"It was during those days that I launched on the market (we could almost say) the programme that would allow Catholics to be accepted by Protestants .... Catholics had hoped too much for the return of Protestantism to the fold of the Mother Church. It was time that they should lose their arrogance. Charity made it a duty for them. When charity is at stake, I pretended, laughing up my sleeve, nothing wrong can happen."

"I prophesied with assurance, so that this would be repeated in the same tones, the suppression of Latin, of priestly ornaments, of statues and images, of candles and prie-dieu (so that they could kneel no more) .... And I also started a very active campaign for the suppression of the Sign of the Cross."

"I also prophesied, and we were then in 1940, the disappearance of altars, replaced by a table completely bare, and also of all the crucifixes, in order that Christ be considered as a man, not as a God. I insisted that Mass be only a community meal to which all would be invited, even unbelievers. And came to the following prophecy: Baptism, for the modern man has become ridiculously magical. Whether given by immersion or not Baptism must be abandoned in favor of an Adult Religion."

"Moreover, all that is permitted among Protestants, even if only in one sect, must be authorized among Catholics, that is the remarriage of divorcees, polygamy, contraception and euthanasia."

On the Eucharist

Michael encouraged Protestants to go to Catholic Mass and receive Holy Communion. This is because: "When Catholics will see Protestants receive Communion at their masses, without having been converted, they will longer have confidence in their antique 'Real Presence.' It will be explained to them that this Presence only exists in so far as it is believed. Thus they will feel themselves to be creators of all their religion and the most intelligent all them will know how to draw the required conclusions."

"To weaken more the notion of 'Real Presence' of Christ, all decorum will have to be set aside. No more costly embroidered vestments, no more music called sacred, especially no more Gregorian chant, but a music in jazz style, no more sign of the Cross, no more genuflections, but only dignified stern attitudes .... Moreover the faithful will have to break themselves the habit of kneeling, and this will be absolutely forbidden when receiving Communion .... Very soon, the Host will be laid in the hand in order that all notion of the Sacred be erased."

"In order to destroy all sacredness in the cult, the priest will be invited to say the whole Mass in vernacular and especially to recite the words of the Consecration as a narration, which they are in reality. He must not, above all, pronounce the following words: 'This is my Body, this is my Blood,' as if he really took the place of Christ Who pronounced them."

"Let everyone feel that the priest is reading a narration. Furthermore, there must never be question of a Sacrifice, that is, a Mass-Sacrifice, a non-bloody renovation of the Sacrifice of the Cross. No Protestant accepts this formula. Mass must only be a community meal for the greatest welfare of human fraternity."

On Marian Cult and Cult of The Saints

"At that time, I showed great energy to destroy the Marian cult. I insisted greatly upon the grief that Catholics and Orthodoxes caused to Protestants by keeping up their numerous devotions to the Virgin Mary. I pointed out that the dear separated brethren were more logical and wiser. This human creature about whom we know almost nothing becomes, in our Church, in some way, more powerful than God (or, at least, more gentle ).... I stressed upon the fact that many Protestants believe that Mary had other children after Jesus... Human oddness has no limit. All this strengthens my conviction, that to deny the virginity of Mary is the safest way to transform Christians into disciples of a man who would not at all be God. Who does not see how useful it is to kill Jesus of Nazareth before killing God?"

"I therefore advocated the suppression of the Rosary and of the numerous feast days reserved to Mary... As for all other things, it will be necessary to make a those who keep on reciting the Rosary feel guilty."

"Afterwards, to bluntly suppress the cult of the Saints. The Saints must disappear before God, although it is much easier to kill God than His Saints... Then, we will proceed to suppress Judgement, Heaven, Purgatory and Hell. This is all very easy... Many are well disposed to believe that the Goodness of God surpasses all crimes. AIl we have to do is to insist on this Goodness. A God Whom no one fears, quickly becomes a God about whom no one thinks. Such was the end to be reached. "

"Such is the compendium of the orders which I sent throughout the world."

On the Sacraments

"Afterwards, come the Seven Sacraments, which are all to be revised, all the more so that Protestants only have two. All Christians, of all denominations, have kept Baptism, but, for my part, it is the Sacrament that I would like to see disappear first. This seems relatively easy. It is too childish a Sacrament. Almost as childish as the Sign of the Cross and Holy Water."

"Of course, the Sacrament of Confirmation, which pretends to give the Holy Spirit and can be administered only by a bishop, must be suppressed with energy. This attitude will allow to denounce the dogma of the Holy Trinity as offensive to Jews and Moslems, as well as to certain new Protestant Sects."

"As for the Sacrament called Penance, it would be replaced by a community ceremony, which will only be an examination of conscience directed by a well trained priest, all of which would be followed by a general absolution, as in some Protestant Churches."

"As for the Sacrament of Extreme-Unction, we will have to find another word for it.... I would willingly choose the expression 'Sacrament of the Sick,' and to avoid the idea of Eternal Life, it would be allowed to offer this Sacrament, even in case of a light illness."

"As to the Sacrament of Holy Orders, which confers the power to exercise clerical functions, we will evidently have to keep it. In our Universal Church we will need priests who will be teachers of some Socialist doctrine.... And, of course, marriage will not be refused to the priests who ask for it, not any more than the Sacrament of Holy Orders will be refused to women."

"No, civil marriage only would be allowed. Thus, this Church, basely authoritative, could not forbid any more divorce and the remarriage of divorcees.... I know well that Jesus of Nazareth has spoken in opposition to this opinion. But I have already said elsewhere that we must know what to choose in his teachings that is suitable to modern man."

On the Universal Church

"First, to replace the word 'Catholic' by 'Universal', which means the same thing. But it is very important that word 'Catholic' should not hurt Protestant ears and would not incite the faithful of the Roman Rite to believe themselves Super-Christians .... It is very important that Christians become conscious of the scandal that is caused by the division of the Church. For, there are three kinds of Christianities: the Catholic, many Orthodox and some three hundred Protestant Sects."

"To emphasize the last prayer of Jesus of Nazareth, prayer that was never heard : 'Be one as my Father and I are One.' To cultivate a growing remorse particularly, among Catholics."

"To stress that Catholics are responsible for the division among Christians, because, by their refusal to compromise, they caused schisms and heresies. To come to a point that every Catholic will feel so guilty that he will wish to atone at any price. To suggest to him that he must himself endeavor to find all the means capable of bringing Catholics closer to Protestants (and also to others) without harming the Credo. To keep only the Credo. And again . . . attention. The Credo must undergo a very slight modification. The Catholics say: 'I believe in the Catholic Church.' The Protestants say: 'I believe in the Universal Church.' It is the same thing. The word Catholic means: Universal."

"Always drive minds towards a greater charity, a larger fraternity. Never talk about God, but about the greatness of man. Bit by bit, transform the language and the mentalities. Man must occupy the first place. Cultivate confidence in man who will prove his own greatness by founding the Universal Church in which all good wills shall melt together. To bring out that the good will of man, his sincerity, his dignity are worth more than a God always invisible. To show that the luxury and art found in Catholic and Orthodox Churches are intensely disliked by Protestants, Jews and Moslems. To suggest that this useless show must be suppressed for a greater welfare. To excite an iconoclastic zeal. Youngsters must destroy all this hodgepodge : statues, pictures, reliquaries, priestly ornaments, organs, candles and votive lamps, stained glasses and Cathedrals, etc . . . etc..."

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